


Who Needs Mistletoe

by erisgregory



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 16 kisses that don't count and the one that does, Christmas, Crack, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hinata Shouyou/Everyone-centric, Kageyama Tobio in Denial, Kags doesn't deal well with his feelings, Kissing, M/M, Multi, Romance, So much kissing, Volleyball Dorks & Nerds, a lot of platonic kisses don't worry, but like way overblown, but not in a porny way, just a dramatical hinata fic, my take on the "five times/one time" fic, my take on the main character/everyone fic, neither does hinata, not an actual curse!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-04 22:56:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5351456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisgregory/pseuds/erisgregory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas is just around the corner and all Hinata wants is for Kageyama to kiss him. </p><p> </p><p>  <img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cursed

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea while waiting in the er a few weeks ago and I've finally started it. It's not going to be very long but broken into a few small chapters to keep some of the kisses separated.

It begins with Yachi. Which really isn’t fair because Hinata wants someone to blame and there is no way he can make himself blame her for what happened. He tries. He imagines being angry at her for cursing him. Maybe she has some crazy magic she didn’t know about or maybe she is aware and that was why she was apologizing. Maybe something went wrong and now Hinata has this curse on him that no one knows how to take off. It would make sense in a weird way, because in all the fairy tales, kisses are powerful things. And here he is with a kissing curse.

If you have a kissing curse then what would the cure be? Certainly not another kiss? Kisses woke princesses, besides, fairy tales are just tales. No amount of daydreaming can change that. Hinata doesn’t know what’s going on, but he’s going to call it a curse because that’s what it feels like. He’s cursed and there’s no one to blame.

Actually, it’s probably Kageyama’s fault.

* * *

Two weeks ago, during a late night practice, Hinata got hurt. He’d jumped to the side, over compensated in the air and came crashing down. The sideways momentum meant he skidded for a few feet, dragging his upper arm across the gym floor. It hurt and there was a bit more blood than he’d expected. Mostly he was angry that he’d made such a rookie mistake when he’d jumped.

Kageyama had him propped against the wall and was giving him a thorough dressing down for being such a reckless dumbass, but Yachi kept a level head and ran off to get the first aid kit. When she came back she made Kageyama stop yelling, which was good, because between the pain and the blood, an angry Kageyama was too much to handle. Hinata felt queasy so he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth while Yachi worked. Thankfully Kageyama sat down and kept his mouth shut, and Hinata could hear that he was helping Yachi now, asking if she thought it was a deep cut. It wasn’t, it was just a long scrape, but Kageyama sounded relieved, so Hinata was relived.

After the scrape was cleaned, Yachi wrapped his arm carefully and taped the bandage on him. She was testing her work by moving his arm this way and that and Hinata was just beginning to peek at it sideways when she did the most inexplicable thing! She kissed his arm, right over the wound.

Several things happened then, all at once. Hinata’s eyes shot wide open. Kageyama dropped the water bottle he was holding, and Yachi was on her feet bowing and crying and trying to apologize all at once.

“I’m so sorry, my mom does that! I didn’t mean to, please don’t be angry, please forgive me Hinata-kun! She’s bowed so low HInata almost can’t see how red she is.

He holds his hands up, trying to show he’s calm, but it is sort of a crazy situation and it isn’t at all helped by Kageyama who is now laughing because he is a shit head. “It’s fine, I’m fine! Thanks for patching me up.” he tells her, but she’s quickly gathering things back up into the first aid kit and then bagging the tash.

She’s on her feet before Hinata can say anything else and she looks so stricken at Kageyama’s laughter that Hinata wants to punch him. “I’m sorry, I have to die, I mean go, I have to go!” Then she does! She just leaves, first aid kit, trash and all! Her sneakers squeak across the floor as she runs and then it’s just the two of them.

“Oi, asshole, you chased her off!” Hinata gets to his feet and stalks toward Kageyama, hands clenching into tight fists.

Kageyama doesn’t care about that apparently because he’s still laughing and now he’s pointing at Hinata. “I bet that was your first kiss too!”

Hinata fully intends to ram into Kageyama and knock him on his ass for being mean to Yachi, but this stops him in his tracks and he momentarily deflates. He hadn’t ever been kissed before and he certainly never planned for Yachi to be the one to kiss him.

“Oh my god!” Kageyama is cackling which jolts Hinata from his daze and he rushes him, grabbing him around the middle. He’s surprised which is probably the only reason Hinata takes him down.

“That doesn’t even count! Yachi’s like my sister and you’re the fucker who laughed at her while she was crying!

Hinata has hold of Kageyama by the collar of his t-shirt and is jerking his head up and down as he yells. For his part, Kageyama has stopped laughing. He’s trying to shove Hinata off, but he doesn’t quite manage it before Hinata takes a swing at him. Hinata is in such a rage now so it doesn’t quite compute that Kageyama is holding his fist, or that he’s being thrown off. Once he hits the floor he stays there, slumped. His arm is throbbing where he’s pulled it against the bandage and even though he’s furious right now, what he feel most of all is the hot sting of betrayal mixed with humiliation.

Kageyama’s shoes come closer, but Hinata can’t make himself look up. He’s still trying to catch his breath, still trying to forget that Kageyama said that was his first kiss. Still trying to get over the fact that he was hurt and Yachi was embarrassed and Kageyama laughed. He thought they were better friends than that.

“I’m sorry, I took that too far.” His voice is gruff, but almost shocked sounding, like he hadn’t realized just how upset HInata was until right now. When Hinata looks up he sees how red Kageyama’s face is.

“You should apologize to Yachi-san.” Hinata’s throat is tight.

“I will.” Kageyama comes closer as though he means to help Hinata up off the floor, but Hinata glares at him until he stops.

“You’re such a mean jerk.” He wanted to scream it, but it came out as a dry whisper.

“I know.” Kageyama never admits to it, so Hinata doesn’t know what to say now. He says nothing and they stare at each other for a tense moment.

Then Kageyama takes a step back. “I’ll go find her now. I’m sorry. I’m glad you weren’t badly hurt.” He sounds sincere and that is just way too much on top over everything else that’s happened in the last ten minutes.

Once he’s alone Hinata picks himself slowly off the floor and if he cries just a little on the way to change, well, there’s no one around to see it anyway so it doesn’t matter.

* * *

Two weeks since the night this curse was enacted and two weeks since his fight with Kageyama. Now, only one week until winter break. He needs to be worrying about the last of his finals and about the parent teacher meeting coming, up, but instead he's worried about who the curse will reel in next. Will it be someone scary? Will it be awful? Hinata has no idea who's going to be kissing him next, but after two weeks of it, he’s sure there will be someone and soon. He’s also sure it won’t be Kageyama, the one person he actually might want a kiss from. Maybe, if they were friends again. If they were even on speaking terms.

If Hinata really believed in magic and curses, maybe that would make sense. It was never Yachi, it was Kageyama. He put the curse on Hinata and now everyone in the world is going to kiss him. Everyone but Kageyama. Because of course he’d be a giant asshole of a sorcerer, that would only be right.

Curses aren’t real, though, and besides. Kageyama isn’t going to stop being a jerk any time soon.


	2. Confounded

Hinata wasn’t sure if his mom counted in the scheme of things, but technically that was the second kiss he got since whatever this thing was had begun.

He was sitting in his room, feet crossed up on his bed and glaring down at his list. This was the super secret list he had tucked between his headboard and the wall, because the last thing he wanted was anyone, especially his parents, seeing something titled _Kisses_ and going on to list half the team at Karasuno. No, that would involve humiliation on a deadly level. He would never survive it. The house was quiet right now, so he unfolded and uncrumpled the paper, smoothing it out carefully in front of him.

Then he waited and listened, just to be sure. The house stayed silent. Natsu was asleep at last which meant his parents were finally asleep too. So, he was safe. Or as safe as anyone could be when everyone in the world seemed to have a compulsion to lay one on him.

So his mom. He added her in under Yachi and was proud that he managed not to be too weirded out by adding her to the list. His mom. On the kissing list. No, it was weird, so he tried not to focus on the stupid list, instead remembering when it happened. 

That was the next morning, after the Yachi/Kageyama disaster. In a gesture that reminded him of being very small, his mother swooped in and kissed his cheek on her way out the door. It stunned him the tiniest bit because she hadn’t done it in so long. Sure, he got plenty of hugs and pats on the head, but his little sister Natsu got most of the kisses. Which was pretty okay considering he was in high school now and practically a grown man. 

The kiss was quick and light and made him feel like just maybe he was still okay with mom kisses every now and then. Since there were no witnesses to tease him, it was kind of nice. At the time he didn’t connect it to anything, because there was nothing connect it to. That would come later, when he’d realized there was definitely something fishy going on.

So maybe it counted or maybe it didn’t, but if he was really going to catalog every kiss he got, that motherly one on his cheek had to go on the list too. 

Hinata rubbed at his eyes and tapped the paper with the pen. He’d hoped writing them all down would show him something like a pattern. Or that it could prove that really there wasn’t anything freaky happening at all and he was just blowing everything out of proportion in his mind. So far all it did was make it glaringly obvious that he had no idea what was happening.

“Whah!” He fell back on the bed, the list clutched to his chest and kicked his feet in frustration before remembering he was supposed to be stealthy. Thankfully he didn’t hear anyone. Time to focus again. He looked at the third name.

Daichi.

* * *

The third kiss happened that same day, at morning practice. Hinata was particularly awesome that day. It felt good because he and Kageyama weren’t talking and he and Yachi were still awkward, so slapping the ball down on the other side of the net several times in a row was a great distraction. He got high fives from Tanaka and Nishinoya and even Ukai looked pleased from where he stood by the door talking to Takeda.

It was nice to let go of all that tight anxiety he’d been feeling in the center of his chest and just play. Sugawara was setting for his side and Daichi was blocking with him. They took turns creaming the others and maybe, just a tiny petty part of him, thought Kageyama deserved to get beat.

He wasn’t meeting HInata’s eyes at all, and he maybe looked a little more worn than usual, but that tiny ugly part of Hinata also thought that it was fine that Kageyama lose sleep after being a bully. It served him right. 

This was all good and distracting and Hinata wasn’t thinking too hard about Kageyama, he was thinking about the stinging in his palm. The one that made him feel alive. He was thinking about getting past Tsukishima who was just on the other side of the net. He relished the squeak of their shoes and the yells of his teammates and the sheer exertion that came with giving his all. So when he slammed that ball down an inch past Tsukishima’s finger, and his team roared for him, he was elated. Transported even! They were gathered around him congratulating him on the win, hugs, high fives, back slapping, and somewhere in the middle of it all he found himself squash in between them, everyone laughing and cheering. 

It was great! It was freeing! He didn’t even think about it when it happened because he was so happy. He didn’t think about it until later that week, but Daichi kissed the top of his head. Like a dad or a big brother, and it was okay because that’s exactly how Hinata felt about Daichi. Like he was the best big brother anyone could ask for. 

Ukai had to break up their group hug eventually so they could clean up and get to class, but Hinata felt better. He didn’t let himself run into Kageyama or Yachi, he just enjoyed everything in the moment and headed off to his first class feeling a lot more relaxed than he had earlier that morning. Things would be okay. He promised himself he’d go find Yachi at lunch and make sure she knew everything was okay between them. 

Eventually, he’d thought at the time, he’d probably have to forgive Kageyama too. It just wasn’t something he was in a rush to take care of.

Later, when he’d found Yachi, she turned just as red as before. She didn’t quite look him in the eye until he he finished explaining that he wanted things to be comfortable between them again, that he considered her a friend and that he wasn’t at all weirded out by anthying. Plus his mom had been impressed by the dressing on his arm and told him to be sure and thank Yachi for her.

All of this was a little on the mushy feely friends side of things, but it was totally worth it to see Yachi smile again. She’d gone on to tell him about Kageyama’s apology and how he’d insisted on picking up her evening clean up duties for the next week. She’d forgiven him, she told Hinata. So that just left Hinata who was still too angry to go seek Kageyama out and talk to him. 

“He said he was really sorry.” Yachi’s voice dropped to a whisper, though there wasn’t anyone around to hear her. They were in the back corner of the classroom, by the windows looking out over the courtyard. The only other kids left were near front, talking and laughing, and completely ignoring them.

“Kageyama-kun explained what happened when he apologized. He said he’d been worried about your arm, because there was so much blood,” she paused so he nodded. He remembered how much blood there’d been and didn’t particularly want to think about it. It was kind of grossly amazing that the scrape had bled so much.

“So when I started cleaning it and could see it was a scrape and not a deep cut, he felt really relieved!” Yachi smiled at him, holding her hands out and leaning forward just a little. “See? So that’s why he started laughing. He was really happy you weren’t hurt too badly.”

Of course this was exactly what Kageyama told him too, but Hinata didn’t want to hear it. “He’s still a jerk.”

Yachi’s smile fell. “I just wanted you to know what he said. I don’t want to tell you how to feel about it.”  
Hinata didn’t want to make Yachi feel bad about anything so he was quick to assure her, “I know. I’m glad he apologized to you, I’m still just too mad to talk to him. I will though, you don’t have to worry about it, okay?”

Yachi agreed and they finished their lunches without mentioning Kageyama again. It was only later that Hinata found himself thinking about just how worried you’d have to be about someone to feel so much relief over losing your worry that you’d laugh like that. Probably really, really worried. 

He’d still been mad then.

* * *

Hinata folded the paper up again and bent over the bed to wedge it back into place. Satisfied no one could see it, he switched off his lamp and flopped back onto his bed. So far, he had nothing. So much nothing that he was ready to start looking up fairy tales online or something. He shook his head at himself and wailed as quietly as he could into his hands. 

“Uhg!” Frustrated didn’t begin to cover how all of this made him feel! He needed help! He needed a second opinion, but he wasn’t sure who’d be the best person for that or who he even thought he was brave enough to try and tell.

It came to him, as he was drifting off, that there was someone who’d made it clear to him on several occasions that they could not only be trusted, but that they wanted Hinata to come to them if he ever had a problem he couldn’t work out on his own. Most importantly, he probably wouldn’t laugh. Hopefully.


	3. Distressed

It was lunch time before Hinata could work up the courage to talk to Sugawara. He would ask to speak to him alone. That was the safest. Then he would tell him about the fight and the subsequent kisses. 

Hinata stopped in the breezeway just outside the school. He could definitely do this. Sugawara wouldn’t make fun of him. He straightened his back and stood as tall as he could, determination in every step as he march to the courtyard where he knew he’d find Sugawara. He was halfway out into the sunlight when he saw that Sugawara was already preoccupied. In fact, he was already deep into what looked to be a very serious conversation with Kageyama.

Quickly, and without looking back, HInata turned to dash back inside. Once he was hidden back in the building, he stamped his foot in anger. Kageyama better not be talking about him! He was the one who needed his senpai’s help! If Kageyama was getting Sugawara on his side, Hinata would… he’d just…

Destroy him.

Or at least not talk to him for the rest of the week.

Definitely not mope about the fact that everyone was still on this kissing spree and Kageyama seemed completely unaware and unaffected by it all. 

Hinata decided he’d have to wait to talk to Sugawara alone. Tomorrow, then. Not during practice where anyone could overhear him. He felt a little relieved because he really still had no idea how to even say what he wanted to say without sounding crazy or stupid. The walk back to his classroom was spent staring at the tile underfoot and hoping he could avoid people kissing him for at least twenty four hours so he wouldn’t have to add names to his list before he talked to Sugawara.

As it happened, it was closer to four hours, not twenty four.

After a round of serving and receiving practice, they moved into a practice match, the way they’d been doing the past two weeks. Ukai was determined that the more they played together in different groupings, the better their overall performance would be. He was probably right about that because Hinata could see how it benefited the whole team when Sugawara was the setter or when Yamaguchi came in to serve. So it made sense that others needed those chances too, even though he was a little put out about missing so much of his practice time with Kageyama.

So when they switched again, and he was on the same side of the net as Kageyama, he forgot he was still upset, and when they used the quick to fly the ball right past their opponents he turned to Kageyama with a huge grin. Even Kageyama was trying to smile.

“Yes!” they yelled together. It felt good, even if only for a second. 

When Hinata remembered they weren’t really on speaking terms, it made him deflate. He turned back to what he was doing and tried not to think about how stricken Kageyama looked as he’d turned away. It was awful and Hinata knew deep down he couldn't drag it out. If he could fix it, then he needed too. Even if he was still mad. Because maybe Kageyama really was sorry and if he was, then Hinata could forgive him. He wanted to. He needed to, so they could get back to what they were good at.

The next time the ball was under their control, Hinata got ready for it again. Ennoshita and Asahi did as well. With little time to think, Hinata had to pull himself back at the last second so Ennoshita could hit it over the net, but in doing so he ran himself backward and collided with Asahi. Asahi wasn’t too fazed, but it knocked Hinata down. His legs were directly under Ennoshita when he came down and the two of them ended in a tangle of limbs on the floor.

The whistle blew and Hinata could hear Kageyama. That was the first thing really, Kageyama was making that concerned face. He was red and angrier than usual, but it was more panic than anything else. Hinata would be touched really if it weren’t that he was already being, well, touched. He groaned because how many times was he going to hurt himself this month, but also because Ennoshita had come down right on top of him. They were pulling him up now, but not before Hinata was absolutely certain that the wetness on his thigh was from Ennoshita’s mouth. He’d been kissed. During an accident. During practice. In front of everyone. On his thigh! If the floor could just open up already that would be good. 

Kageyama was helping him sit up, Ennoshita was already moved.

“Are you hurt? Hinata? How’s your arm? Can you move?” Kageyama’s questions came too fast to answer.

“I did move, I sat up, see?” Hinata huffed. He wasn’t hurt. Sore, at the most. Humiliated, though.

Sugawara knelt down beside them. “There’s nothing wrong with his mouth,” Sugawara observed. “What about the rest of you?”

Hinata shook his head, but Sugawara checked him over anyway before taking his hands and helping him to his feet. Then he leaned in close and whispered, “Kageyama was really scared just now, I think you two need to talk after practice.” Hinata was trying to process this information, but he didn’t get far because the next thing he knew, Sugawara was leaving the tiniest kiss on his temple before pulling back. “You should kiss and make up already.”

Ennoshita was fine. Practice continued. Hinata didn’t know if he did well or not because he couldn’t recall a single detail after his run in with Sugawara. When it was all over he was still in a daze. What did Sugawara mean? What had Kageyama said to him at lunch? Did they know about the kissing thing already because that seemed like a pretty blatant jab about kissing?

He didn’t talk to Kageyama. He couldn’t think of anything except nabbing Sugawara and begging for some time. Just ten minutes at the most. He needed answers and he needed help.

Sugawara smiled way too knowingly to be totally innocent by Hinata’s thinking, but he did agree to stay after and talk after everyone left. Daichi left him with the keys and they shared a look that left him curious and a little unbalanced. Was Daichi in on it too? If he was, what was _it_ anyway?

They sat on the floor, HInata following Sugawara down. “What’s going on? I was hoping you’d be talking to Kageyama right about now.”

Hinata could feel his mouth flop open. “That! What’s that about? When you said ‘kiss and make up‘ earlier, what did you mean?” 

“Didn’t you too have a fight? I noticed Kageyama hasn’t really been himself and I haven’t seen the two of you hanging around or talking the past couple of weeks. So I asked him about it. He said you were angry with him. You’d had a fight.” Sugawara’s brow crinkled. “I’m worried about you two.”

“Is that all he said? Did he say why?” Hinata had to know.

“He said he’d laughed at you and Yachi when he shouldn’t have and that he was terribly sorry but he didn’t know how to fix it even though Yachi forgave him.” Sugawara told him slowly.

“Oh.” Hinata sighed in relief. 

“Did you want to talk about it?” Sugawara offered.

“I did. I mean, I do! I was going to come talk to you at lunch but you were already…” Hinata flapped his hands and Sugawara nodded.

“I was already talking to Kageyama.” he said.

“Yeah.” Hinata told him.

Sugawara leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. When he looked back his eyes held something Hinata couldn’t place. “Well, I’m here now, and I’m listening.” He said.

“Okay. Thank you,” Hinata blew out a breath before beginning. “There’s more than just the fight,” he added, hesitating.

“That’s fine,” Sugawara assured him. “Just begin at the beginning.”

“The beginning was the fight. Or really it was when I got hurt and Yachi kissed my arm. On the bandage.” Hinata tried to stay calm as he recounted the injury and the kiss and the subsequent argument with Kageyama. It was hard because it was such a touchy subject anyway and the fact that Kageyama laughed made it all the worse, but Sugawara didn’t rush him, or interrupt him. Even when he waxed on about supposed curses and how he’d begin the list. He added in his mom and Daichi, Suga remembered that one, then he had to talk about the dare that happened the week before.

“I think the second years were playing a game and Tanaka and Kinoshita were the ones doing a dare. Or something like that, I never really asked.” Hinata could feel his cheeks redden at the memory.

Sugawara sat forward and pursed his lips. He didn’t look happy. “Go on,” he urged.

“So this was before practice. I was last in the clubhouse and I guess everyone else was already here, so it was just me and the second years. And when I walked in everyone laughed, but Tanaka just grabbed me and kissed my cheek and before I could say anything, Kinoshita did the same.” Hinata was rubbing at his cheek without thinking and when he realized it, he stopped.

“I wish you’d told me this sooner! Daichi won’t be pleased to hear it--”

“No, no, it’s okay! I mean it’s not okay, but it’s okay sort of because Tanaka saw how upset I was and he was so sorry. He was apologizing all week and even Kinoshita was following me around asking if I need help with homework or anything. They were stupid, but it was over so fast and they were so sorry. I already forgave them.”

“Did you?” Sugawara made a humming sound.

“Yeah, and I wasn’t telling you to get them in trouble, so please don’t tell Daichi or if you do just tell him it was harmless.” Hinata pleaded.

“I understand what you’re saying,” Daichi answered him softly. “And I still want you to finish what you have to say, but Hinata, that wasn’t okay. I do have to tell Daichi. People can’t just kiss you without your permission. That’s harassment.” Sugawara was very firm and Hinata didn’t quite know what to say about that except it was kind of exactly what Hinata needed to talk about.

“Okay, but that’s exactly what I’m saying. Everyone is kissing me without my permission!” Hinata grabbed at his hair in frustration.  
“Oh.” Now it was Sugawara’s turn to go quiet. He looked thoughtful though, so that was probably a good thing. Hinata needed someone else on this case.

“I need to think about this some more, but I think I need to apologize to you. I didn’t mean anything by that kiss earlier and I know Daichi would never want you to feel like he’d crossed a line--”

“No, no, I really don’t feel that way, I just… I don’t know! If this is something that’s going to keep happening then I don’t know what to do and I can’t figure out if there’s anything I could do to stop it anyway or if it really is some kind of spell thing happening and I don’t know what started it and mostly I’m not bothered because like with you and Daichi I just feel like we’re family and I didn’t feel anything bad about it except it just keeps happening and I don’t know what’s next! What if I start getting attacked and people start kiss kissing me then what?” Hinata was out of breath and panting when he finally fell silent.

Sugawara had that thoughtful look again which Hinata was actually really relieved to see. His senpai would help. He didn’t have to figure it out on his own.

“I’m going to seriously think about this, Hinata, and in the meantime I want you to try and think about this as a series of coincidences,”

Hinata opened his mouth to interrupt, but Sugawara held up a hand to stop him.

“At least until we have more information. There’s no point in making things worse in your head right now. I think it’s best to focus on positive things and to talk to Kageyama, if you’re ready. I think he’d be a very good ally to have right now, even if you don’t tell him what you're worried about.”

Hinata reluctantly agreed to talk to Kageyama. About their fight. Nothing else. Sugawara locked the gym up and Hinata thanked him for staying late to talk and for helping him. Suga beamed at him and made him promise one more time to stop thinking about it as a curse and to talk to Kageyama.

As he rode home that evening he did his best to do as Sugawara asked him. He thought about how hard he was going to practice when they came back from winter break. He thought about how excited he was to work toward the Spring High and how he was sure they could go all the way. He thought about how good it was going to be to get back into step with Kageyama and work on their combo together. Kageyama hadn’t slacked a bit in his private practices, that much Hinata was sure of, and Hinata wouldn’t let him down either. He’d come back stronger than ever!

He managed that train of thought all the way home and right up until he was climbing in bed when he realized he had new names to add to the list. He didn’t want to, and it probably wasn’t the best way to try and think of it all as one big coincidence, but he had to. For whatever reason, he was still compelled to do it. So he pulled out the list and quickly jotted Ennoshita and Sugawara down.

After stuffing it back into hiding, Hinata burrowed under his blanket and hid from the world in general. He couldn’t feel optimistic just now. Not when he wasn’t sure what the next day would bring and if he’d have to endure more random kisses. 

Kageyama. He’d just think about Kageyama and talking to him and what he would say. That was how Hinata fell asleep, imagining his conversation the next morning, practicing what points he wanted to make. Imagining turned to dreaming and Kageyama stayed with him through the night.


	4. Bouyant

“Hey! Kageyama! Wait up!” Hinata planned to be much earlier so he could wait by the school gate, but Kageyama was intent on beating him to the gym today, apparently, since he flew past Hinata with a sly grin.

They raced all the way to the door where they both collapsed on the ground. If they hadn’t been fighting for so long Hinata would have felt completely at ease, but as it was, he knew he still had to settle things between them.

“I said,” he heaved between breaths, “wait up.”

“I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to win.” Kageyama was just as out of breath as he was. 

“You didn’t though!” Hinata told him. He was looking up at the sky as the sun slowly rose over the horizon.

“Fine. We tied.” Kageyama pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Fine.” Hinata agreed with a huff. “But we really should talk, before practice. I think we’re early enough. Walk with me?”

Kageyama agreed, though they had to lay there catching their breaths for a little longer. Once they were up and moving, they moved to the stretch of grass and trees across from the gym. It was early still and cold, but Hinata was determined to set things back on track.

“I was too hard on you.” Hinata stopped under a tree, turning to bend at the waist before Kageyama. This was much more embarrassing in practice than in his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, dumbass. Stop.” Kageyama reached for his arm and pulled him out of his bow.

“I’m trying to patch things up, just let me!” Hinata argued.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for!” Kageyama’s cheeks were splotched with red. “Just accept my apology and we’ll move on.” He added, softer.

Hinata hadn’t expected this so now he felt uncertain. “I do accept your apology,” he said eventually, because he did. He wasn’t angry anymore, not like he had been.

“Okay.” Kageyama said. They were both quiet then, standing in the early morning sun, looking at each other, and it struck Hinata just how much he’d missed Kageyama in the time they’d been apart.

“So we’re okay now?” Hinata asked.

Kageyama nodded stiffly. Hinata didn’t think twice but rushed him and hugged him tight, just for a second. He was already pulling back before Kageyama could push him off.

“What was that for?” Kageyama asked.

“I missed you,” Hinata explained.

Kageyama’s expression softened. “I missed you too, dork.” He said softly. “Let’s go practice.”

“Yes! Give me lots of tosses today, okay?” Hinata grinned and Kageyama’s mouth lifted in what Hinata knew was his realest smile, tiny and crooked, but definitely there. 

He laughed but he didn’t say no so Hinata was happy. That bubble of joy stayed with him all the way through practice. It felt so good to be the oddball duo again without any of the strain from the past couple of weeks between them. Good enough that Hinata forgot for a little while about the kissing and the whole disastrous curse thing. Suga seemed pleased, and Hinata felt like the whole team was relieved that they’d pulled through and were working in sync once more.

It stayed with him all day. A day that was blissfully kiss free. Until it wasn’t.

It was Friday, the last day before break, and it was so close to being over. They just had afternoon practice to get through and then there would be nothing but volleyball and free time for the next two weeks. Actually he was running a little behind because he’d been caught up talking after class so he needed to hurry. Hinata was ready, though. The break was exactly what he needed right now. He was so ready that he couldn’t even feel anything when it happened. He didn’t even understand what was happening until Narita was sputtering his apology and slinking back against the wall of the club house.

He’d been grabbed and kissed, that’s what had happened. The moment he’d come through the club door, Narita had tugged him forward and attempted to lay one on him. Apparently he’d been expecting someone else so his kiss was way off the mark, landing somewhere on the side of Hinata’s head.

“I am so sorry, Hinata-kun! Oh no, oh no! I wasn’t expecting you!” Narita was backed as far away from Hinata as possible, bowing repeatedly and refusing to look Hinata directly in the eye.

“Who were you expecting?” Hinata cried. His hand was over his heart, which he could feel pounding against his ribs.

“Uhh…” Narita blushed deeply. “I told my girlfriend to meet me here. Oh my god, I have to tell her not to!” He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.

Hinata’s head hurt. It felt like his brain was trying to crawl out his eyeballs. This was too much, really.

Narita was sliding past him, still keeping his distance. “I’m so, so sorry.” He said as he reached the door.

Hinata flapped at hand at him but couldn’t quite bring himself to to say it was okay. He was upset and just wanted five minutes to pull himself together. Narita must have sensed that because he left without saying anything more.

The floor of the club room was cold, but Hinata didn’t care. He couldn’t think about it because it was too weird. He wasn’t even very angry at Narita, at this point it just felt inevitable. Everyone was busy kissing him, so why not Narita? He didn’t know who was next, maybe Asahi or Noya-senpai, but none of the kisses meant anything and that more than everything else was what stuck under Hinata’s skin.

He didn’t think too much about romance, not in the scheme of things, but he knew his first kiss should mean something, be with someone special. He even had a someone in mind when he thought about it, when he let himself think about it, but it wasn’t all romance and hearts and roses. So he didn’t think he was too much of a dreamer or being too dramatic when he thought about how wrong all of this was. He wasn’t supposed to get all of these kisses that people didn’t even want to give to him or that didn’t matter at all. Some day, when he was ready, if they were ever ready, he wanted to share that with…

“Oi, what’s taking so long? Practice is starting.” Kageyama barrelled into the room looking around until his eyes fell on Hinata sitting on the floor against the wall.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick, did something happen?” Kageyama came close and felt his forehead.

Hinata sighed and shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, you’re late to practice. You’re never late to practice. And you’re sitting in here on the ground and you haven’t even started changing.” Kageyama sounded worried which had never been Hinata’s intention. He crouched down on the floor in front of Hinata to get a better look at him.

“I’m okay, though. I’ll just be a couple more minutes. Just tell everyone I’m almost ready.” Hinata rubbed at his head.

“Sugawara-senpai sent me. After Narita confessed to jumping you. I was hoping you’d tell me you were okay so I didn’t have to fight him. I’m not sure I can take him and the rest of the second years on. You said you’re okay, but you don’t really seem like you are” Kageyama sat and crossed his legs then folded his hands, waiting.

Hinata groaned and covered his face. “It’s too embarrassing! I don’t know how to tell you!”

“What exactly did he do?” Kageyama’s voice took on a dark tone and Hinata had to wave his hands around, worried Kageyama really would run off and try to beat Narita up.

“No, no, it’s not that. Not really! He was expecting his girlfriend, I think they were supposed to meet here before practice and he sort of grabbed me and tried to kiss me.” Hinata explained.

Kageyama looked furious. He moved to stand, but Hinata reached out and held him in place by the arm.

“He didn’t though! He got my head. Mostly my hair I think. It’s not really that, I swear. He apologized like a lot and then he ran out scared. I guess he went right to Sugawara to explain it before I could.” Hinata let go of Kageyama once he was sure he wasn’t running off.

“He had to do laps, and he has to stay after and clean the gym by himself after all of our practices over the break. I think I even heard something about Tanaka and Kinoshita having similar consequences, but they didn’t tell me anything. Sugawara just told me to come talk to you.” He relaxed back onto the floor, his eyebrows still drawn, mouth still tight with concern.

“I’m not hurt by any of them. It’s not that at all, but I don’t think I’m ready to say it just yet. Do you think we could just get through the rest of this day and then I can tell you sometime later? Would that be okay?” Hinata didn’t want to beg, but it was all just too much and he was kind of worn out from worrying about it. Telling Kageyama right now, telling him everything from the beginning just sounded like way too much work for today. Hinata wanted to play volleyball and forget about it for a while, if that was at all possible.

“Yeah, we can do that. As long as you can play. If you start screwing up I’m hauling you right back out here and making you talk.” It sounded like a threat, but HInata could tell it was just Kageyama’s way of dealing with his worry.

“Deal,” Hinata told him.

Practice was good. Great even. Other than a few more apologies he didn’t want or need from Narita, it was just what he needed. Everyone was in high spirits because of the upcoming break and Daichi handed out their practice schedule which even included a lunch at his house before New Year’s. Kageyama acted like nothing had happened, and that was the best part. At the end he was physically drained, sweaty, and relaxed. Being relaxed was not something he was used to so Hinata wallowed in it, dragging his feet all the way out of the gym.

“So,” Tsukishima said enigmatically behind him.

Hinata turned to find Tsukishima and Yamaguchi just catching up to Kageyama. 

“So, what?” Kageyama prompted. Hinata turned back fully and came to stand next to Kageyama.

Rather than answer, Tsukishima shooed them out the door with a whispered, “Outside.”

Yamaguchi was smiling so HInata was guessing it couldn’t be anything terrible. They might not be the best of friends, but HInata was fairly certain Yamaguchi wouldn’t be happy about Tsukishima luring them to their deaths or something equally as devious.

Once outside, Tsukishima led them away from the gym, into the dark under the trees where Kageyama stood with his arms crossed. Hinata was more curious than worried, though, because Tsukishima’s face looked almost gleeful at this point, and not in an evil way.

“So, I overheard something I thought you two might be interested in.” Tsukishima whispered.

“What?” Hinata asked.

“Tanaka was talking to Nishinoya about something the first years aren’t supposed to know.” Tsukishima was being mysterious now and Kageyama didn’t have much patience for it.

“Out with it already.” Kageyama told him.

“You’re no fun, King,” Tsukishima complained. Kageyama made a move to leave, but Tsukishima grabbed him by the arm.

“Our upperclassmen are throwing a Christmas party and we aren’t invited because there’s going to be alcohol and girls. Tanaka seemed particularly thrilled about the girls, but that’s his thing. I think we should crash this party.” 

Hinata didn’t know exactly what Tsukishima meant when he said girls were Tanaka’s thing, as in he liked them way too much and everyone knew he was girl crazy or if girls specifically weren’t Tsukishima’s thing, but either way, Hinata was intrigued about crashing this party.

“No. No way. Daichi would kill us.” Kageyama said immediately. 

“Listen, I know you’re all about the rules and being perfect and straight laced, but just imagine this, please. Use your imagination for five seconds, if you can. Our upperclassmen. Drunk.” Tsukishima raised his eyebrows and Kageyama frowned. Hinata was in. He was so in, but before he could say so, Tsukishima was trying again.

“Daichi and Sugawara intoxicated and dancing around the room. Asahi giggling and telling all those stories you know he has about all of them. Nishinoya and Tanaka going on and on about how perfect Kiyoko is and how she must be protected at all costs--”

“They do that anyway,” Kageyama said, but he wasn’t frowning any more.

“This is a once in a lifetime chance. And…” Tsukishima paused for dramatic effect.

“And,” Hinata and Kageyama said at the same time.

“And some of the guys from other schools are coming too!” he finished.

Hinata was bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Kenma?” he asked.

“Kuroo, Akaashi, Bokuto, all of those guys. They’re staying at Suga-san’s house because his parents are going out of town.

“I’m in. We’re in, right Kageyama?” Hinata elbowed him. Kageyama seemed to consider for a moment and then caved with a short nod.

“We need a plan,” Yamaguchi said quietly. “Remember?”

“Yes. We can’t show up too early, because we’ll get kicked out. We need to wait an hour or so and then slip in.” Tsukishima pushed his glasses up as he spoke.

“Okay. Where do we meet?” Hinata asked.

“We can meet at my place. Sugawara doesn’t live too far from me. He walked me home once or twice at the beginning of the year.” Kageyama offered.

“Good. We’ll meet at your place then. Saturday night. Everyone can sneak out, right? We don’t need anyone getting caught and telling their parents the plan.” Tsukishima eyes them all suspiciously.

They all nodded at him, but Hinata shuffled his feet. He lived pretty far away and didn’t like the idea of biking all the way to Kageyama’s house in the middle of the night.

“You should just come over and spend the night,” Kageyama told him, guessing what the hesitation was.

“Really?” Hinata asked, brightening.

“Mmm. My mom won’t care and my room is easy to sneak out of because it’s on the other end of the house from my parents.” Kageyama told him.

“Good. Yama’s staying with me so we will see you then. Text me the address, King,” Tsukishima was already walking away.

Hinata felt breathless he was so keyed up. Not only was he going to go to an upperclassmen party and hopefully not get caught or kicked out, but Kageyama had invited him over to spend the night like they were the best of friends. All and all, it was going to be an awesome weekend.

He and Kageyama worked out the rest of the details on the way to the gate then parted ways. Hinata was sure his mom would say yes, so that wasn’t even a concern. He was just happy. He practically flew home on his bike and started planning out what he’d need to take to Kageyama’s. Right before bed, when he stepped out of the bathroom from his shower, Natsu was waiting for him and pounced. 

He caught her up in a hug and she giggled. Before he could put her down she smashed their cheeks together and Hinata felt the tiniest tickle against the corner of his eyes.

“Hey!” He exclaimed, putting Natsu back down on her feet. She was almost too big to be held like that anyway.

“Butterfly kisses!” She told him, then dashed down the hall to their parent’s room.

Hinata shook his head and padded quietly to his room where he pulled out his list and added Narita. And after a moment, Natsu as well. Every kiss, to be as scientific about it as possible. Then he hid it away, flicked off the light, and let himself, for the shortest moment, think about spending the night at Kageyama’s house. Maybe they were best friends, that would be amazing. Hinata would be happy with that. But in that too short moment, he let himself think of something else. Of hand holding and cuddling and kisses that were both wanted and real. Things that maybe, just maybe, Tsukishima of all people, would understand.


	5. Blindsided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever since I updated this fic, but I've made this chapter long so it kind of got away from me. Hope it's not too late to finish a somewhat Christmasy fic!

Hinata manages to somehow keep himself busy until time to leave for Kageyama’s. It’s hard though, his room has never been cleaner and he was sure his mom was worried about him finishing all of his laundry without her having to remind him to keep it going. After lunch he’d showered and double checked his bag and finally, finally he could leave.

Kageyama met him at the door with what was practically a grin, though it was still creepy enough to look threatening, if Hinata hadn’t known better. That amazed him a little, as he followed Kageyama up the stairs to his room. When they’d first met, everything about Kageyama had been frightening. Now, Hinata could tell when he was excited or when he was happy and that made Hinata feel a mix of pride and amazement at how far they’d both managed to come.

Kageyama’s mom stopped by to say hello and remind Kageyama to pull out the futon. She was carrying a pile of bedding for Hinata, which he accepted with a thank you and then they were alone. Kageyama slid the door shut and turned around with the most mischievous look it made Hinata giggle.

“What do we do now?” Hinata asked. 

“Now we do whatever until dinner. My parents won’t stay up late so we can just play video games tonight until it’s time to go.” This last bit he whispered as he crossed the room. 

They could do whatever. Hinata wished they could do whatever, even though the idea of whatever was fairly terrifying in its own right if he thought too hard about it. None of that was what Kageyama meant though, so Hinata just shrugged and glanced around the room,taking it all in. It was sparse and clean, much more organized than Hinata kept his, even after his marathon cleaning earlier. It left him a little bit in awe.

“Wow, Kageyama, your room is so clean, it looks like a grown up's room,” he said honestly.

“Don’t say embarrassing stuff like that,” Kageyama huffed at him, but he didn’t care. It was still true. 

Kageyama must have decided to distract him because he pulled out several volleyball tapes, both of their own team and their opponents and some of the recent professional games. The afternoon went by in a flash, the two of them sitting on the floor by Kageyama’s bed trading ideas back and forth on how the plays could have been improved or which shots were the best. Some of the time they argued, but it was all in good fun. Hinata went so far as to purposefully go against Kageyama a couple of times just to rile him up because he could. Kageyama caught on though and whacked him with the pillow until they were both laughing.

Dinner was nice, though HInata was nervous at first. Kageyama clearly got his imposing demeanor from both parents. They pulled him into the conversation though, asking him about his family and Karasuno and what he enjoyed most about volleyball, how he thought the team was doing. Hinata answered all of this as best he could and before he knew it dinner was over and they were washing the dishes while Kageyama’s parents got ready to retire to their room. 

Now the excitement was beginning to come back, full force. Kageyama had to hit his arm repeatedly to get him to settle down as they waited for the house to grow quiet. It did, though Hinata was sure it was taking all night and not just a couple of hours. They played video games and whispered to each other about the plan until it was finally time to leave.

“I just have one favor,” Kageyama said. Hinata put down his controller and nodded.

“We have to leave together, so if I say I need to go, you leave and come too. I’ll do the same for you, okay?” Kageyama looked so serious about this that Hinata just nodded for a moment.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come with you. I can’t imagine trying to sneak back here alone. We go together and we leave together.” Hinata declared, sticking out his hand for Kageyama to shake. He couldn’t imagine what Kageyama might be worried about, but he hand no problem promising this much since it was already his plan all along.

Sneaking out was easy. They were quiet and the window ledge was low. They were both out and the window closed behind them in less than two minutes. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were there, as confirmed by an earlier text, hiding in the shadows of the trees outside Kageyama’s room. Easy. However, walking down the street at night was another story altogether. It made Hinata nervous every time there was a car, but they stayed out of the light and thankfully there weren’t too many people out and about at that hour.

Sugawara’s house was only five blocks away. In the day, on a bike, it would take no time at all. Creeping through the shadows in the middle of the night on foot made the trip feel like it was taking forever. It was there though, the house was finally right there. Kageyama was pointing it out to them silently now. They could hear the hum of music from across the street now and HInata’s worries were switching from being caught out so late to being kicked out or told on by their upperclassmen.

Tsukishima didn’t seem to have the same concerns as he was already halfway across the street and looking back at them annoyed. Yamaguchi hurried to catch him and Kageyama and Hinata were right behind him. Hinata steeled himself and drew himself up as tall as he could. He ignored Tsukishima’s laughed and Hinata shared one secret excited grin with Kageyama before they opened the door and stepped inside. All of them breathed a collective sigh of relief that the door was open and the entryway unguarded. Everything was going to plan. As they slipped out of their shoes, they could all hear Tanaka laughing above the music. 

The lights were low, save for the colored lights strung along the walls throwing everything into shades of blues, greens, and reds. Hinata could see from his vantage point pressed against the doorway into the livingroom. Everyone was lounging here and there, though Nishinoya was attempting to get a few of them to their feet to dance. 

As agreed, they were going in together, as a unified front, because the party wasn’t nearly big enough to slip in one at a time and go unnoticed. So that’s what they did. Quietly though, slowly, they emerged from the entryway and into the middle of the party.

Kuroo noticed them first. He laughed, full body laughed and for a second Hinata forget to be afraid of being kicked out. Kuroo gives a sideways glance and raises his eyebrows. The four of them follow his line of sight to Daichi who happens to have a lap full of Sugawara. It should be shocking, but really it just makes HInata so happy he could burst. Besides, this means their captain is way too busy to notice them slipping among the guests.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi follow Tanaka into the kitchen, presumably to get something to drink, and Kuroo draws Kageyama into a discussion about the music that Hinata has no idea if Kageyama can keep up with or not, which leaves him wide open in the area Nishinoya is trying to fill with reluctant dancers. The moment he spots Hinata he rushes toward him.

“Hinata, I’m so glad you’re here!” Noya is enthusiastic and clearly drunk. He throws his arms around Hinata and crushes him in a hug that ends with a kiss on the tip of his nose.

It’s brief but Hinata can feel his cheeks going hot. “Does Daichi know? I know you guys weren’t invited, but I’m so glad. Everyone’s here now! I love it!” He’s gone before Hinata can even respond. He reaches up to press a cold finger tip to his nose with a sigh, then decides to forget it ever happened because Nishinoya won’t likely remember anyway.

He finds Kenma tucked into a corner on the floor between the end of the couch and the wall. Behind him the music is changing, but it’s all a little overwhelming now that he thinks about it. He slides down the wall and sits, saying nothing to Kenma who is completely absorbed in his game. He just watches and tries to sort out how he’s feeling or maybe why. This was supposed to be fun. He’s here to have fun. Maybe that isn’t the whole truth. He’s here to be here with Kageyama. Too much truth. 

Hinata settles for watching Asahi finally get dragged out to dance and slowly the middle of the room fills with bodies. There are some girls he thinks he recognizes from their girl’s team, and some he doesn’t think he’s ever seen. There are actually a lot more people here than he was expecting now that they are crowding into the living room. He can’t see where Kageyama’s gone, but thankfully Kenma seems to notice him there.

“You made it.” He states simply.

“I made it.” Hinata agrees.

“With the others?” Kenma glances around.

“Yep,” Hinata says. “I don’t know where everyone went.”

Kenma gives him a rare look, directly at him and there’s something like a smile that crosses his face. “Kuroo would say you need a drink.” He observed.

“What would you say?” HInata asked.

“I say, do what you want.” Kenma old him, then he went back to his game.

Hinata thought about that for a while, watching the others enjoy themselves. He really wasn’t nervous anymore, not to be here, it wasn’t the party getting to him. He knew what it was, but he didn’t feel like facing it. He couldn’t be mad at Nishinoya either, it wasn’t a bad thing to be welcomed like that. It just happened to be a recently sore subject for him. So Hinata decided to join in and try to have fun.

The kitchen is down a short hall, but easy enough to find because of the laughter. Ennoshita was shaking his head at something Tanaka had said to one of the girls and Tsukishima was whispering something funny to Yamaguchi as well. He didn’t have to ask, not really. One of the girls, Hinata didn’t know her given name but he was pretty sure everyone called her Ren, pressed a plastic cup into his hand and smiled at him. Indulgently. The way you smile at a cute puppy. That was fine, Hinata didn’t mind much. He wasn’t looking to flirt with girls anyway.

“You might want to go easy on that,” Tsukishima lifted his own cup at Hinata with a sly grin. It felt like a challenge and not a warning.

Hinata just shrugged and swallowed half of it down in one gulp. Tanaka clapped him on the back as he coughed and Tsukishima was definitely laughing, but it was kind of funny. He laughed too and when he was able he finished his cup and it was replaced with another full one.

“There you are!” Kageyama came in, looking heated from the dancing and grabbed Hinata by the sleeve. Hinata noted he had a cup of the party punch too.

“Where are we going?” Hinata asked.

“They’re setting up a game. We can watch.” Kageyama told him.

That sounded fine at first, but when Hinata saw that almost everyone was planning on playing. They were settling down in a circle and Hinata wanted to play. He convinced Kageyama to as well and they sat between Sugawara who laughed when he finally realized the first years had crashed the party and Asahi who was smiling and blushing at Nishinoya in a way Hinata had never seen before.

Daichi gave them a couple of good stares before pulling out the chopsticks. KIng’s game. Hinata knew what it was but he’d never played it. Or seen it played for that matter. Daichi helpfully supplied the rules which Hinata tried to focus on. One chopstick had the word King written on it and the others were numbered. They would draw and the King got to order the other players to do a dare, by number without knowing who that might be. Hinata got the number five for the first round. He tried to peek at Kageyama’s number, but was selfishly blacked and shoved away.

“No cheating!” Kageyama grinned at him. Kageyama looked pretty great when he grinned like that.

Kiyoko was the first king and she ordered number ten and number eight to switch socks, which they did. It was minor but hilarious because it meant seeing Ennoshita wearing Christmas tree socks. They drew again and again and as the game ran on the dares became more and more daring. Daichi was sitting shirtless, Tanaka was wearing lipstick, Sugawara had to dance and sing for them all and Nishinoya had to do a seductive strip tease for one of the girl’s Hinata didn’t know. 

Kageyama drew the king chopstick and Hinata held his breath. “Number three has to give number seven a kiss. On the neck. For two minutes.”

Hinata felt the room tilt uncomfortably. He’d continued drinking, though he was pretty sure this was only his third cup, but just then it didn’t seem like nearly enough because he was number seven and as it turned out, Asahi was number three. Kageyama got a very pinched look on his face.

For his part, Asahi didn’t seem to mind. He turned on Hinata with a shrug and Hinata, still unable to quite catch up with the situation, didn’t say a thing as he leaned down. They didn’t touch anywhere else. Hinata had been momentarily afraid that Asahi in his drunken state might grab him, but he planted his hand on the floor behind HInata to lean in. Before he actually started the dare he whispered, “Okay?” and Hinata gave him a stilted nod. He didn’t have to do it. No one would make him do it, but it was that look on Kageyama’s face that made him want to more than anything else. 

It was surprised, for sure, but there was also a hint of something else there too, something unbelieving. As if Hinata wasn’t someone who got kissed on the neck. To be fair he wasn’t, not ever before, but as he met Kageyama’s glare over Asahi’s shoulder, Hinata wanted to prove him wrong.

Someone started the timer on their phone. Asahi’s lips tickled at first and Hinata laughed because he’s sensitive and was nervous despite the alcohol coursing through him. He couldn’t watch Kageyama anymore, he couldn’t focus on anything other than holding still as Asahi kissed up and down the column of his neck with increasing pressure and wetness. And suction. Hinata shut his eyes. It felt good. Not because it was Asahi. He’d never thought twice about him in that way, but maybe just because it was kissing, it was his neck, which he’d never realized could feel so nice. 

They were only just beginning when Hinata came to his senses enough to think it would feel a lot better if he actually wanted to be doing it with the person who was kissing him. He didn’t. He didn’t really want it, but Kageyama…

Kageyama was red faced and staring at him like he was horrified. It was embarrassing and Hinata needed it to stop. He didn’t care about the game, not to this degree. It was Nishinoya that saved him, though, before he had a chance to say anything.

“Come on. Asahi. You’re wasted.” It was a gentle pressure tugging him back and a lopsided look of commiseration over Asahi’s shoulder, and then he was gone letting Nishinoya pull him up to his feet where he swayed and blushed.

“I’m too drunk for this, forgive me.” He bowed and they left together heading for the stairs. Several other party goers booed but for the most part everyone called their goodnights to him and let him go without ridicule. 

When the group called for the Pocky game next, Hinata tried to make a bid for Kageyama. It was risky and stupid, he knew, but he just wants to kiss someone he actually wants to kiss. It’s frustrating and crazy and there’s all these pent up things Hinata should be saying, but instead he was bouncing on his toes in front of Kageyama all hopeful and Kageyama takes one look at him and stoically shook his head no.

Hinata deflated.

“I’m not playing. I’m done. You shouldn’t either, you’re drunk.” Kageyama tells him plainly. 

It stings. He wasn’t that drunk, he still knew what he was doing. Didn’t they come here to drink and play games with everyone? Kageyama was totally on board with it before so why the sudden change of heart?

It was him, he realized. Kageyama didn’t want to play it with him. It washed over him in stinging hot humiliating waves. If he thought it was disgusting to watch someone kiss Hinata’s neck of course he wasn’t going to risk getting kissed by Hinata for the Pocky game.

He doesn’t have time to say anything though, they are just staring at each other, Hinata going hot and angry and Kageyama standing with his arms crossed waiting for a retort, when Tsukishima sidles up.

“I’m playing,” he said as his fingers curled over Hinata’s shoulder. “You can be my partner.”

“Great.” Hinata said, turning away from Kageyama. 

There are four pairs playing the first round of the game. Hinata was too jacked up on nerves and punch to notice much beyond Sugawara watching him closely as he took his place next to Tsukishima. That and the fact that Kageyama’s face was even more pinched than usual. Which was fine. Great even. 

Tsukishima was grinning and that wasn’t something that usually meant anything good. He was looking down at HInata, all wide grin and smirking and Hinata wanted to stick his tongue out at him.

“I won’t lose.” Hinata told him.

“Neither will I.” Tsukishima shot back. 

Tanaka passed out the pocky and then they were leaning in, waiting for the game to begin. Hinata’s heart was already racing. He tried to tell himself it was the thrill, the need to compete, but it was probably the fact that he was letting Tsukishima near his mouth while this stupid curse was in place and he probably really was going to kiss this jerk in front of everyone because that’s how things had been going lately. 

When the call came to start, Hinata couldn’t move, but Tsukishima did which meant he needed to keep up or lose. He wasn’t going to lose. He was pretty sure that would make Tsukishima and Kageyama happy and there was no way he was letting that happen. He took a careful bite, then another at the same time as Tsukishima. Someone whistled from the crowd. They were too close, too close to even look at each other properly, but Hinata couldn’t look away. Maybe he could fake Tsukishima out. Maybe he would get scared and chicken out or lose his chewing rhythm.

It wasn’t working out like that though. There was barely half an inch left between them. Tsukishima wasn’t giving up and neither was HInata and someone had already won next to them but Hinata couldn’t think about anything other than this. Tsukishima met him in the middle and for one tiny second they were kissing. Lip to lip. Hinata pulled away as soon as they were declared a tie. Tsukishima gloated, but Hinata found he didn’t care. He looked for Kageyama and didn’t find him anywhere.

He did see Yamaguchi glaring at him even as Tsukishima is laughing beside him and enjoying his congratulations and general teasing. When Yamaguchi disappeared to the kitchen Hinata followed him.

They were alone. Yamaguchi had a cup of punch which he drained quickly with only a little sputter before he looked up at Hinata. He was red faced and his eyes were watery and Hinata felt terrible but he wasn’t entirely sure he knew what was wrong. He wasn’t sure he had a right to ask either. Out in the living room another round of the game was starting up, but Hinata was worried he’d done something terrible by playing with Tsukishima.

“I’m not mad at you,” Yamaguchi assured him before he could say anything. 

“Oh. Good. I was worried there for a minute.” HInata came further into the kitchen and excepted a glass of punch, as Yamaguchi refilled his own.

“I just didn’t really think he was going to go through with it, you know? He always teases and acts superior, but he’s usually not cruel. Not to me anyway.” Yamaguchi leaned back heavily against the counter. “You want to get some air? It’s so stuffy in here.”

Hinata agreed. He didn’t think he could take the heat much longer and the biting cold air was great for making his head clear out. They sat together on the back step, sipping punch and watching the stars overhead.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I think I hoped I was proving something to someone.” Hinata’s voice was low as he admitted his thought process or lack of one.

Yamaguchi just gave him a sad smile in the yellow of the porch light above them. “You mean Kageyama.” He said.

Hinata nodded at him, wishing he could hide the burning in his cheeks.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I know a thing or two about falling for your best friend and realizing they don’t feel the same way.

That set off an ache inside of Hinata. Didn’t Tsukishima feel that way about Yamaguchi? Had he been reading the situation wrong? “I thought he was--”

“He’s gay, he told me in middle school. He just isn’t interested in me like that.” Yamaguchi was staring up at the sky. 

The cold was making them lean into each other’s shoulders, or maybe that was the liquor, either way it was warmer and steadier and somehow that made it easier to say what he’d been thinking. I think I must be bi. I’ve liked girls before, but now it’s just… it’s just Kageyama. And based on his reaction tonight, I think it’s clearly one sided, which…” Hinata’s voice trailed off as his throat got tight.

“It sucks.” Yamaguchi clarified for him.

Hinata nodded and for a while they didn’t speak.

“Was he a good kisser?” Yamaguchi asked finally.

“I’ve never kissed Kageyama.” Hinata said sadly.  
Yamaguchi giggled next to him. “No. Tsukishima. Was he any good?”

Hinata allowed himself a laugh. “I don’t know, our lips barely touched. I pulled away really fast. It was too weird.” Hinata admitted.

“Fair enough,” Yamaguchi said.

It was quiet again for a while and HInata could hear the music coming from inside. He kind of felt awful, like a sad emptiness was finally making itself known and it sat just under ribs, in the center of his chest. It hurt and it was confusing and Hinata wondered if maybe it was heartbreak. Could you get your heart broken if there was never a relationship to begin with?

“I just wanted to kiss Kageyama. I thought maybe… but no. He made it really clear tonight.” Hinata said. “Do you know, I’ve been getting kisses from everyone, all kinds of kisses that I never wanted and none of them mean anything?”

Yamaguchi pulled back and looked at him. “I haven’t been getting any kisses, but I definitely wanted to play that stupid game with Tsukishima. I think he was too busy trying to mess with Kageyama to notice me. He can be a real jerk.”

“They’re both giant jerks, the two of them.” Hinata added. Yamaguchi nodded.

“They should just date each other if that’s all they care about, being jerks and giving each other a hard time.” Yamaguchi declared. He lifted his cup in a toast and Hinata tapped with his almost empty one.

“I would kiss you. If I liked you. Also you’re much more likeable than either of those buttholes.” Hinata told him.

“I would kiss you too.” Yamaguchi said.

They stared at each other for a minute before breaking out into laughter. Hinata laughed so hard his stomach hurt.

“We could though, if you wanted. We could kiss each other, just to see what it would be like.” Yamaguchi said it very softly, once they both grew quiet.

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Hinata hedged. He was thinking he wasn’t entirely against the idea, but it really wouldn’t be the same. They were friends, he didn’t think it could ever be more.

“No, but it might be fun. It’s okay, we don’t have to, it was just a thought.” Yamaguchi drank the last of his punch and HInata followed suit.

“We should. We both know what we’re doing, we’re just seeing what it would be like, right?” Hinata felt nervous, but somehow braver because of the nerves.

“Right!” Yamaguchi answered. “The people we want to kiss us don’t want to so we could kiss each other. Like kissing buddies!”

“Okay, but we’re not calling it kissing buddies,” Hinata scowled.

“Fine. Just friends, who are going to kiss.” Yamaguchi amended.

They nodded at one another, then set aside their empty cups. Hinata licked his lips. He had no clue what to do.

“So I’m just going to…” Yamaguchi waved his hand between them as he leaned in.

“Yeah,” Hinata breathed. He leaned in, too.

They were both hesitant so it took a little time. Yamaguchi kept giggling at the last second which would set Hinata off, but finally they were both there and Hinata closed his eyes as their lips pressed together. Then nothing.

Neither of them moved. Hinata could feel the wrongness of the moment. It felt out of balance and a little like when he was forced to receive Natsu’s kisses. They pulled apart at the same time and grimaced at one another.

“So that didn’t work out,” Hinata said. He didn’t feel bad about saying because Yamaguchi looked about as grossed out as he felt.

“Not even a little bit,” Yamaguchi agreed.

“Sorry,” Hinata told him. Yamaguchi shrugged. There weren’t going to be any hard feelings.

They ended up leaning together again, watching the sky and following the occasional plane crossing the view. It was peaceful. It also gave Hinata’s stomach time to stop churning and his head to stop pounding. He’d had way too much to drink. Probably Yamaguchi had as well. Though this was good. This part was the best part of the party as far as he could tell. It was peaceful, if a little cold, and he felt understood, at least by one person. Eventually Kageyama was the one to find them.

“They’re out here!” He called over his shoulder. Tsukishima appeared as they looked back at the doorway behind them.

“Time to go,” he told them.  
Daichi was passed out on the couch in the living room, but Sugawara made sure they promised to text when they got home. He also promised to try and talk Daichi out of being too angry with them when he sobered up, then he pressed water bottles into all of their hands and ushered them out the door. The party had somehow mostly cleared out except for the guys staying the night, but they were all off where ever finding beds so Hinata didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. How long had he been out on the porch with Yamaguchi?

The four of them were silent on the walk back. It was tense, too tense for Hinata’s linking. He was much less intoxicated than he had been before, so when it came time to part ways with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, he asked Kageyama if they could take a detour to the park. At first, Kageyama scowled and appear to consider just leaving Hinata to make it back on his own, but he relented and led the way across the street and down the block to the park.

If things hadn’t felt so unpleasant it would have been a beautiful walk. The trees were mostly bare but for a few evergreens, but in the moonlight they looked lovely reaching up to the sky and cast long blue shadows over the path where they walked. Hinata had never been in the park after dark, but it had something of a magical quality about it. It gave Hinata courage, because he needed to say something to Kageyama, even if it was only that he was sorry and unsure why he should be sorry in the first place. 

They made for the swings in unspoken agreement, then took two up together and began to sway slightly in the cold night air.

“I haven’t come here in years,” Kageyama told him.

Hinata glanced over at the image he made. In his coat and gloves, Hinata could easily picture him as a little kid playing here. “I go to one closer to my house with Natsu all the time, but it’s never this quiet or still.” He said.

“It’s nice. The party was noisy. Chaotic. Is that why you and Yamaguchi were out back?” Kageyama wasn’t beating around the bush.

“I guess. Neither of us were having much fun inside.” Hinata explained.

“I thought you were having a great time.” Kageyama’s voice held an edge of bitterness that surprised Hinata.

“No. Well, maybe at first. It was fun seeing everyone like that. I thought it would be fun for me too, but I think I had too much to drink and then that thing with Asahi and then that other thing with Tsukishima, and yeah, it just started to suck. Yamaguchi felt the same way so. Yeah.” Hinata shrugged and pushed his feet off the ground swinging himself out and back a couple of times.

“So that wasn’t fun? With Asahi, or Tsukishima?” Kageyama asked as he kicked off and swung himself too.

“No. Not even a little bit. It was weird and I didn’t want to be kissing them. I just wanted to join in, but then you didn’t want to play with me and Tsukishima did… but that was a mistake. And I think it made you mad, so I’m sorry.” Hinata couldn’t look at Kageyama when he said it.

“I wasn’t having much fun either. I didn’t think about it before I just thought we’d go and have fun. I didn’t think about what might happen. I had too much to drink too so I’m sorry if you thought I was mad at you. I wasn’t. I just didn’t like thinking that I forced you to make out with Asahi. And then I really hated thinking Tsukishima was using you in the Pocky game for any reason.” Kageyama swung himself harder as though admitting all of this made him antsy and he needed to work off the extra energy.

Hinata followed him, swinging higher and higher and for a time there was only the creaking of the swingset between them.

“I also tried to kiss Yamaguchi,” Hinata added into the wind. If they were being honest he needed to come out with that much at least. 

“Tried to?” Kageyama’s voice was neutral.

“We were sort of sad and talking and thought maybe we could be friends that kissed but it was like the pocky game, over in a second and gross. Like kissing my brother. I don’t think I would have done it without the punch. I think I’m still kind of drunk.” Hinata told him.

“New pact.” Kageyama told him as they swung past one another.

“Okay,” Hinata answered, curious.

“No more underage drunkeness,” Kageyama looked over at him with a grin.

“Deal!” Hinata laughed.

“Dumbass! Kissing people you don’t want to kiss!” Kageyama was trying to swing higher, but Hinata wasn’t having any of that.

“You’re the dumbass, dumbass!” Hinata smartly remarked.

They both laughed and kept swinging until they were winded and their legs hurt and then they sat together in the silence just sobering up and thinking about the night they’d had. Hinata considered telling Kageyama everything. All about the curse and all of the kisses, but he couldn’t. They were ending their night on a high note and Hinata didn’t want anything to mess that up. It felt too fragile right now and he didn’t think he could admit that he’d blamed Kageyama in the beginning. That came way too close to admitting that Kageyama was really the one he wanted to be kissing.

When it finally came time to go home they walked the last couple of blocks in a companionable silence. Hinata was sober and he was pretty sure Kageyama was as well. It was much better being clear headed, even if he did think he was going to need a lot more water to get rid of the headache that was starting up behind his eyes. He was glad they’d talked and cleared whatever it was that was hanging over them at the party.

They made it back inside without incident and changed silently into their pajamas. Hinata was too tired to worry about sleeping in the same room with Kageyama. He didn’t think about it. He thought of nothing as they slipped into their beds, Kageyama on his twin mattress and Hinata on the futon. The house was silent and dark and just as Hinata was slipping off he had one final thought.

Kageyama never said he was disgusted by the thought of kissing Hinata. He’d only been concerned that Hinata was being forced in some way to kiss people he didn’t want to kiss. Kageyama was trying to protect him. It wasn’t a declaration, but it made Hinata feel warm all over. If nothing else, Kageyama was a good friend. He let sleep overtake him then and it was deep and dreamless.


	6. Elated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for staying with me through this craziness. I'm so grateful for every comment. I really never thought anyone would care about this fic because it's so far out there, but it was something I wanted to write just for the fun of it. Finally we're at the end and it is a little bittersweet for me. I think it would be fun to write just a little more at some point, but please don't hold me to that. Anyway, thanks again for reading!!

Morning in the Kageyama house was different than Hinata was used to at home. Very different If Hinata thought Kageyama was normally quiet, he was downright silent when he first woke up. The whole house was quiet. Hinata found himself whispering so as not to upset the stillness which earned him a look from Kageyama. It was almost weird, despite the revelations he’d had about Kageyama the night before. Thankfully he had an easy out so he could get a little space and think.

Kenma was blowing up his phone. This wasn’t at all the normal way they communicated, mostly they traded one liners, but Hinata and Kageyama had slept in, and Kenma was trying to reach him before they needed to catch their train back home. Kageyama was gracious about it and agreed to meet for lunch and Christmas shopping after Kenma and Kuroo were gone.

They said their goodbyes and Hinata got a standing invitation from Kageyama’s mother, which did not make him blush at all. He rode his bike hard to cover the warmth he felt all over his face.

Kenma was waiting at the bakery, bundled up against the cold and sitting at the one table outside the shop, his head hunched over his phone. “Hey,” he said as Hinata rode up. He didn’t look up while Hinata locked his back to a nearby rack.

“Hey. What’s up? I don’t think you’ve ever sent me so many texts before. Ever.” Hinata took the other chair and leaned forward on his arms.

“It’s nothing urgent. I didn’t see much of you at the party.” Kenma stowed his phone then and looked up at Hinata expectantly.

Hinata rubbed at the back of his neck, suddenly shy. The party had been such a bust, he wasn’t sure he felt like hashing the whole thing out just yet. “Yeah, the party wasn’t really…” Hinata’s voice trailed off and he had to look away.

“I hate parties. I just went because Kuroo begged. Anyway, let’s get something warm and you can show me around.” Kenma said all of this the way you might read a list of chores off, but HInata knew what a big deal it was for his reticent friend to want just the two of them to hang out.

“It was pretty awful,” Hinata agreed with a laugh. “Yeah, come on!” He jumped up, relieved they weren’t going to discuss his series of bad choices the night before, and headed into the bakery.

They wound up with a hot coffee each and a little bag of pastries to share. Hinata considered their options for prime showing around, and decided to head through the main street past all the little family owned stores toward the park. It was cold, but between their drinks to warm them up and the walking, Hinata thought it was a perfect morning.

“And this is where we get steamed buns after practice.” Hinata gestured to the Sakanoshita Store. “Oh and it’s Coach Ukai’s!” he added, bouncing up on the balls of his feet.

Kenma smiled sideways at that as Hinata led on down the road. “If we keep going that way we’ll reach Karasuno. And if you keep heading that way, like really far and over that hill,” here he pointed, “you’ll reach my house!”

“You ride this bike from home every day?” Kenma asked, still looking off in the distance.

“Mmm.” Hinata nodded. Kenma gave him a measuring look before they walked on.

They took a couple of turns so they were headed toward the train station where they would meet up with Kuroo eventually. Walking it was slow going, but Kenma didn’t seem to mind. It wasn’t like their town was very big to begin with.

“I know you didn’t want to talk about last night, but is everything okay?” Kenma asked after a few quiet minutes. His coffee was gone and they’d disposed of all of their breakfast trash too.

“I think so, maybe. I mean Kageyama and I are better. Sort of. Yeah.” Hinata looked up at the clouds overhead with a sigh. “We’re not fighting so that’s good.”

Kenma let it go for a few more minutes before saying, “You don’t sound like yourself.”

Hinata began walking toward the park. “I know.” He admitted.

Neither of them spoke as they headed for a shady spot under a group of trees away from the playground set. No one was around, and even though it was a little cold, Hinata sat on the ground and crossed his legs. Kenma waited patiently for him to say something.

“I thought I had a curse at first.” Kenma’s eyebrows raised slowly and set aside his phone, turning it face down to give Hinata his full attention.

“I know it’s not magic or an evil spell, but it still feels like a curse. Like a kissing curse.” He barreled on without so much as a breath. “And it means I get kissed by almost everyone else except the one person I’d like to get a kiss from and that sucks and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it except go with it and it’s weird and anyhow, that’s why I don’t sound like myself.”

“You want to kiss Kageyama.” Kenma said.

Hinata thrashed around on the ground, kicking out his legs and pounding the ground before settling back in. “How do you know that?” He asked, his voice growing loud.

Kenma rolled his eyes. “It’s obvious there’s something there. Or it was once Kuroo pointed it out. He thought you two were secretly dating.”

“Oh my god!” Hinata’s face was getting warmer by the second. “No! I mean we’re not dating no. Oh my god. Kageyama doesn’t know. Unless, do you think he does know?”

“No, I think he’s probably just as clueless as you were.” Kenma narrowed his eyes looking off in the distance. “Have you considered telling him any of this?”

“No way!” Hinata buried his face in his hands. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Kuroo and I had to talk about it. About our feelings. It was getting in the way of volleyball.” Kenma’s voice was soft.

Hinata peered out from behind his hands. “Are you two secretly dating?” 

“No. It’s not exactly like that. There are strong feelings, but for me, I’m not interested in dating anyone, ever. I’m ace. Do you know what that is?” Kenma raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“Ace,” Hinata tried it out. It was too wrapped up with being the team’s ace in his head and it just sounded cool. He shook his head knowing that wasn’t what Kenma meant.

“I’m asexual, so I’m not interested in a physical relationship. So Kuroo had to decide if he was okay with that which was why we really needed to have that conversation.” Kenma explained. 

“Was he okay with it?” Hinata asked, hoping he wasn’t crossing any lines with his curiosity.

Kenma smiled. “He was. He is. I don’t know if he’ll always feel that way, but for now, we’re both happy.”

Hinata grinned. “I’m so glad it worked out. It must have taken a lot of courage to say all of that. I’m pretty nervous just thinking about trying to talk to Kageyama.”

“It was worth it for us. Even if we didn’t end up together in a dating way, we needed to work it out so we could make peace with it and move on. I think you should talk to Kageyama. When you’re ready. I think he can handle it. Besides, being on a team is all about communication so you and Kageyama need to work on that.” Kenma smiled and then leaned back on his hands, looking up at the evergreens around them.

“You might be right,” Hinata admitted. Kenma just hummed his agreement and they both fell silent, enjoying the crisp breeze and each others company. After a while, Kenma sat back up. Hinata was fiddling with a pine needle between his fingers.

“You’re quieter than usual,” Kenma said.

Hinata threw the pine needle down with a huff. “I started thinking again about the kissing thing. I’ve had a lot of different kisses and I started wondering how many different ones there are. If I ever do get to kiss Kageyama, I want it to be special.” He couldn’t exactly face Kenma as he said any of this.

“What kinds of kisses have you had?” 

“All kinds! People kissing my head, my neck, I got a butterfly kiss from Natsu, my little sister. My nose, my leg, there was the party but I don’t think I have to tell you how insane that was,” Hinata stopped because Kenma was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Hinata asked.

“I’m sorry, Shouyou, but I don’t think any of those really matter, do they?” He was trying to get himself under control but it was taking too long for HInata’s taste. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

“They don’t?” He had to ask anyway.

“No.” Kenma was finally done snorting. “I mean things got a little out of hand last night, I know, but still. If you ever do get to kiss Kageyama I’m sure it will still be special and still be your first kiss.” 

Hinata sighed in relief. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I mean, I had hoped that was the case, but I was getting frustrated.”

“Well, it’s still okay to be frustrated when someone kisses you without your permission, but I think your first kiss is still safe.” Kenma explained.

“Thank you,” Hinata reached out and squeezed Kenma’s hand quickly.

“What about an eskimo kiss? Have you had one of those?” Kenma’s eyes were glinting, but Hinata couldn’t read him.

“No. What’s that?” 

“It’s when you rub noses, like eskimos.” Kenma explained. He leaned forward and Hinata rolled his eyes.

“You can’t be serious!” He was laughing though.

“I can’t have my best friend giving all these kisses away and not ask for one myself.” He said.

“What would Kuroo think?” Hinata teased.

“Kuroo would agree. He loves eskimo kisses.” Kenma came a little closer. “Can I?” He asked.

Hinata was still shaking his head, but it was too funny. He nodded and Kenma leaned in and lightly rubbed the tip of Hinata’s nose with his own before pulling back with a laugh.

“You’re awful. You just wanted to see if I would do it!” Hinata accused, though he was laughing too.

“I’m not about to be left out if you’re kissing everyone. I’m people too!” Kenma teased.

They poked at one another and threw pine needles which slipped right out of Kenma’s hair, but stayed caught up in Hinata’s almost all the way to the train station. Kuroo was already waiting for them, leaning against the wall with his phone. 

“Did you have a good morning?” He asked, pulling Kenma in for a quick hug. Kenma nodded and Kuroo turned to Hinata. “You feeling alright today? You had quite a night.” 

“I’m better.” 

“Good. I think your captain might be feeling a little responsible today. If there’s anything you need to work out with anyone, best to do it during break, okay?” 

Hinata nodded and Kuroo reached for him, crushing him in a bear hug. “Good.” Then he pulled back. How do you feel about forehead kisses. Would that be cool?”

“Hey, you told!” Hinata shot Kenma a look. Kenma just waved his phone by way of explanation. He was clearly a very skilled and sneaky texter.

Kenma was snickering behind his hand. “You are actually a terror.” Hinata told him. 

Kuroo was still keeping a hold of him. “You’re just figuring that out?” Kuroo asked. 

“Forehead kisses are allowed. Since they don’t count against my first kiss and because you asked.” Hinata said diplomatically.

Then Kuroo bent down and kissed Hinata quickly on the forehead with a smirk, before letting him go. They all laughed and Hinata got a hug from Kenma too before they had to catch their train. Before they left they promised to be available if Hinata needed to talk about anything. He was grateful to know he had some support going forward after feeling like he was dealing with it all on his own for so long.

Hinata rode his bike to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet Kageyama and locked it up before going inside. Kageyama was seated at one of the tables along the side wall, his back to Hinata. For a moment, Hinata felt nervous thinking of everything he and Kenma talked about. He stopped in the doorway. The waitress looking over at him must have clued Kageyama in because he turned and waved leaving Hinata no choice but to wave back and walk to the table. 

Thankfully, Kageyama was unaware of whatever nervous fit Hinata was having because he smiled warmly and asked if Kenma and Kuroo were off on their way home.

“Mmm,” Hinata hummed a response and nodded.

“And you’re still okay with shopping? You didn’t get worn out from walking around with Kenma?”

“I’m good. A little chilly,” he admitted.

The waitress brought Hinata a hot tea and took their order. Both of them opted for noodles aa something that would be fairly quick but nice and hot. While they waited Kageyama pulled his list up on his phone and edited it quietly. Hinata was glad for the time to relax and sip his tea. He already felt warmer and Kageyama was at ease so he felt the last of his awkwardness fade. By the time the food arrived, they were both chatting about different shops they wanted to try.

The first stop was close by, a sweet shop run by an older man and his daughter, where Hinata wanted to pick up something for Natsu. His mom called while he was browsing and offered to come pick him up if he got too tired to bike home later. “I’ll check in, but I think I’ll be fine!” He told her. He needed to be careful about his purchases, because it would be hard to fit too much into his backpack. Natsu’s little bag of assorted candies is small enough, though, so he counts that as his first success.

After that they visit the bookstore where Kageyama gets something for his mom and the one hundred yen store where they both pick little things up for people on the team, for fun. Hinata spends all that time debating about his mother and still hasn’t decided what he wanted to look for so they decided to wander around the flea market for a while.

The market was busy, but Hinata doesn’t notice much beyond the conversation he has been having with Kageyama which has now moved on from favorite movies in general to favorite horror films. They have decidedly different tastes.

“Nothing can beat a classic, though. Everything new that comes out is just based on something else that was already done,” Kageyama was emphatic.

“Even though it might be based on something older, how can some old movie compete with modern special effects?” Hinata can’t figure out why he didn’t know Kageyama was so weird about movies, but it makes a freaky kind of sense to him. It might even be a little bit endearing.  
Kageyama stopped and threw up his hand. “Are we talking about horrible overuse of green screen or the fact that even tradition animation is giving way to digital animation. Modern cgi and other effects are ruining movies!”

Hinata can’t help it. He was laughing so hard his stomach ached. It wasn’t that Kageyama was totally wrong about some of his points, it was that he was so serious about it; he felt so strongly about it.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

Hinata would know that simpering voice anywhere. He felt his stomach drop to his feet as he straightened up to find Oikawa with his arms crossed, staring down his nose at both of them. Kageyama was equally silent. It made no sense for Oikawa to be here, so it was almost too surreal.

“The King is shopping at a flea market? This is hardly the place for royalty.” He sneered.

“Oh yeah? What are you doing here then? Just slumming with the normal people so you can make fun of them?” Hinata shot back without thinking first.

“Ah. I see you’ve brought along your little queen too.” 

Oikawa’s smile left Hinata feeling gross all over. He squaked indignantly at the implied insult, but Kageyama just went red in the face, his eyes almost black with rage. It scared Hinata a little that he might lash out and get himself hurt or get into trouble. Oikawa just held up his hand in supplication.

“I meant no insult, king. See?” He grabbed for Hinata’s hand and was kissing it before Hinata could react. “Your highness,” Oikawa bowed his head slightly before dropping Hinata’s hand and laughing.

Kageyama lunged at him, but Hinata managed to grab him and keep him back. Oikawa’s eyebrows shot up and several shoppers around them stopped to stare.

“Oh my, I think I hit a nerve. I’d better leave you to soothe his ego, Shouyou-chan. My grandmother will think I’ve left her. Goodbye your highness, bye Tobio-chan!” He waved the friendliest most obnoxious wave ever and was gone off into the crowd before Hinata could think of anything to say.

He still hand both arms wrapped around Kageyama who was no longer struggling to get free. “You shouldn’t have stopped me,” Kageyama huffed. He was breathing hard, but standing so still, his eyes still locked on the last place they’d been able to see Oikawa.

“Really?” Hinata asked, finally letting go. “And what good would it have done to fight him? He’s never going to change, but you have.” Hinata told him.

When Kageyama stepped out of his arms, Hinata felt his knees go wobbly. The adrenaline rush he’d felt only a moment ago was swiftly leaving and his head swam.

“Hey. You okay?” Kageyama was back, hands out as though he might grab Hinata if need be.

“Yeah, I think I just,” Hinata laughed but it was shaky. “I was scared there for a minute,” he admitted.

“Come on,” Kageyama took his wrists and hauled him along, back out the way the came past all of the vendors and around the others shoppers until they were out on the main street. Then he took him around the corner of the first store and leaned him up against the brick wall. “Do you need to sit? Should I get some water?”

Hinata straightened up, the reality of the encounter catching up to him. That jerk had kissed him! “I’ll be fine except now I’m angry.” Hinata told him, glaring back out to the main road. A tiny part of him wished he’d not only let Kageyama go for Oikawa, but that he’d joined in too. 

“You have every right to be, what he said was--”

“It wasn’t even that, he’s such a jerk! But he kissed me! Without my permission! It just keeps happening!” Hinata couldn’t stop himself. Everything from the past few weeks came pouring out. “You know I thought I had a curse! I thought you’d done it or Yachi, because she was the first one to kiss me after you hurt me, because after that everyone was kissing me! And I mean everyone. Every day. Okay it wasn’t every day, but it felt like it and I was so mad because I didn’t want kisses from everyone I only wanted kisses from one person! From you! But it was like you were immune to it! And then we went to that stupid party and I just thought well, if everyone’s going to be kissing me anyway and I’m never going to get a kiss from you I might as well just say, screw it, and kiss everyone else right back, but it was awful! You know. It was the worst! And I don’t want to fight with you and I don’t want you to think I’m a freak and I don’t want a curse and I really didn’t want Oikawa’s lips on my hands just now gross! I just want a real kiss from the one person I actually care about!”

Hinata was out of breath when his rant ended. He gulped at the air and tried to stop seeing red. When he’d sucked in a couple of lungfuls of air he realized Kageyama’s eyes were both wide and his cheeks were splotched with red. Which of course made him think over what he’d just said and that was when he wanted the wall to open up and swallow him. It didn’t, sadly. Kenma told him it was best to get things out, but Hinata was sure he could have handled it better.

“I--”

“You want to kiss me?” Kageyama’s voice was more of a croak.

Hinata nodded, embarrassed.

“You have feelings for me?”

Hinata nodded again. 

“Say it again.” Kageyama whispered. His eyes flicked from Hinata’s eyes, down, to his lips, and back.

Oh. Oh? “I have feelings for you. I want to kiss you. Is that okay?” Hinata’s heart was tripping right back into overdrive.

“It’s more than okay.” Kageyama answered.

Hinata hesitated only a moment longer before he dropped his bag unceremoniously to the ground and hauled Kageyama forward by the scarf and kissed him. It was much less like a kiss than Hinata intended. It was more and awkward smooshing of lips while neither of them moved, but it only last a couple of heartbeats before Kageyama’s hands were over Hinata’s cheeks, and he was kissing back with enthusiasm.

Hinata was up on his toes trying for a better angle and then they fit perfectly and Hinata stopped thinking through every step. Kissing Kageyama was like hitting the perfect spike. He could suddenly see everything so clearly, see how this moment was always going to happen, see the way everything lined up just right bringing them together, and best of all he could see a bright future just ahead over every wall that ever stood between them, and they were going there as equals.

Kageyama was a little on the rough side and surprisingly gentle all at once and Hinata couldn’t seem to get enough. He didn’t know how long Kageyama held him pressed to the wall or how long he’d trapped Kageyama there against him, but when they finally parted to breathe and smile shyly at each other, Hinata knew without a doubt none of those other kisses had even touched this kiss. His first kiss.

“I’ve been waiting forever to do that,” Kageyama admitted softly. His lips were swollen and red and it took a great deal of effort on Hinata’s part not to haul him back in and kiss him some more.

Hinata laughed. “Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know how you felt.” Which was so ironic it had Hinata laughing again.

Kageyama huffed a laugh too. “I guess you were thinking the exact same thing, huh?”  
“Pretty much, yeah.” Hinata nodded.

“We need to work on our communication,” Kageyama said as he bent to retrieve their bags.

“Agreed. Kenma was just telling me that earlier.” Hinata shouldered his bag and grinned at Kageyama. 

“I may have received a similar conversation with Tsukishima of all people this morning after you left,” he laughed.

Together they headed out of the alley and back on the street, though still away from the flea market, this time with their arms linked, still laughing back in forth at what it took to get them to that point and how hard they’d both made it.

They never talked about the kissing curse again after that, but the funny thing was, the other kisses all stopped. Probably because everyone knew they were together, but it was always there in the back of Hinata’s mind that just maybe the way to defeat a kissing curse really was with one genuine kiss from someone who genuinely cared. Like in the fairytales.


End file.
